Short-term courses, specifically targeted at the working crowd, are offered by a variety of institutions. They provide another way to keep learning on-the-job. In fact, companies sponsor many such courses as part of their training programme.

By Felicia Wong

With globalisation and outsourcing becoming increasingly common, one can no longer afford to rest on their laurels after landing a job. The challenge lies in continually staying relevant in this rapidly changing age.

Professional education can help give you that vital edge over the competition, and consistently add value to yourself.

It usually takes the form of short-term courses ranging from just one day to a couple of weeks. Unlike qualifications such as advanced diplomas or Master’s degrees, professional education courses are much smaller in scope, and are usually focused on specific subjects. They’re meant to help you by enhancing specific skill-sets that you already possess, or are interested in acquiring.

Singapore is Asia’s education hub, with literally hundreds of courses and institutions to choose from. We take a look at some providers of professional education.

1) Tertiary institutions

The polytechnics and universities in Singapore all offer professional courses. At Ngee Ann Polytechnic, short courses spanning various disciplines from Business to Media management are available. For instance, the Certificate in Franchise Management course consists of three-hour evening classes spread over eight weeks.

Similarly, at the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), courses range from an 80-hour Business English certification, to a five-month Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment.

At the Singapore Management University (SMU), the School of Information Systems offers professional programs in the form of three-day courses relating to business IT applications.

To cater to professionals, the National University of Singapore (NUS) also offers short term courses at its downtown office in Parkmall. These range from two-day programmes in Business Law, which can even be taken online, to a full-day course in applied psychology.

2) Private schools

At the Informatics Professional Development Centre, a gamut of courses is available for those seeking to brush up their IT skills. There is a three-day course on using Adobe Photoshop, as well as 14-hour course on Macromedia Fireworks. These courses are highly focused and seek to build on existing technical skills.

The British Council offers professional courses as well. Besides the usual English courses, they also have courses that touch on the finer points of communication, especially with regards to customer service. There are even one-day-long courses on customer-focused telephone skills and writing that can be conveniently conducted on the company’s premises.

3) Professional bodies

Courses specific to one’s career are offered by professional organisations such as the Singapore Human Resource Institute (SHRI), the Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF) and the Institute of Advertising Singapore (IAS).

These courses are highly-specialised, a good choice for those who want more in-depth knowledge, or those seeking a career change and require intensive training in a specific area.

At the IAS, various eight-week courses covering topics from copywriting to corporate communications are available.

Similarly, the SHRI offers a wide selection of workshops and seminars for human resource practitioners. You can get an overview of payroll administration in a series of two-day lectures, or learn how to conduct better performance appraisals in an interactive two-day workshop.

For those in the finance industry, the IBF offers various short courses for traders, bankers and other finance professionals. These are usually three-hour lectures conducted in the evenings or on weekends, and cover specific topics on Equities & Derivatives, or current issues such as Countering Terrorist Financing.

4) Conferences & training courses

Besides these schools and professional bodies, many commercial institutions also offer professional education. Terrapinn, a conference producer, has a financial training arm which conducts seminars on specific topics.

They have various master classes for professionals in the finance industry, ranging from five-day workshops on advanced Microsoft Excel functions like VBScript and Macros, to financial modelling or corporate banking courses.

In the same way, many companies also hire public relations firms to conduct in-house media training or hire trainers to conduct speech and presentation training for their front-office staff.

For the employer
The government has placed much emphasis on skills redevelopment and life-long learning in recent years. As such, many of the courses mentioned above are subsidised by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) or the Skills Development Foundation (SDF). Companies can claim part of training fees from these agencies, provided certain criteria are met.

The HR department of most companies also have a training budget set aside so that staff can improve themselves, and in turn, add value to the company.

Moreover, the short duration of these courses also mean that they are less disruptive, as compared to having an employee take time off to pursue further education. In fact, some of these courses are conducted outside of office hours, thus eliminating any disruption.

For the employee
Being picked to attend such improvement courses are good news for the employee. It reflects your employer’s willingness to invest in you, and adds value to yourself.

There are many perks for the employee:

• Learn something new: The whole point of attending such professional development courses, whether they are one-day workshops or a week-long course, is to learn something new, or to improve existing skills.

• Make new friends: These professional courses are likely to be attended by professionals from your industry related fields. These are excellent networking opportunities, and you should make the most out of them.

• Open your mind: Working at the same task in same environment for too long can dull your mind. Such courses could introduce different perspectives, or expose you to new ideas.

• Unofficial “time off”: Such workshops and seminars are usually held outside of the office, often in hotels. In a way, you can think of them as paid “time-off” from the office, with buffets to enjoy! Even if you don’t enjoy the course, you can at least brag to your colleagues that the hotel served great petit fours for tea! (Of course, be smart and don’t brag too loudly.)


Due to the nature of these short courses, no one expects you to become an expert on the subject after attending a mere two-day session. The time constraint means that the scope of the program would be relatively limited.

These courses are meant for getting a comprehensive overview on a certain subject, or for going in-depth on a very specific topic. Alternatively, you can regard them as refresher courses to keep you up-to-date with your field of work.

If you come across a course that you believe would be beneficial to your work, take the initiative to alert your HR / training manager. There is every chance that the company will be happy to sponsor the course.

Professional education is a great way to keep up-to-date with industry developments, and is a cost-effective way to continually add value to your résumé. So the next time you get an email from HR saying you’ve been picked to attend a course, smile and go have fun!